Paul Ashbee (23 June 1918 – 19 August 2009) was a leading British archaeologist, noted for his many excavations of barrows, or burial mounds, and for co-directing the Sutton Hoo digs (with Rupert Bruce-Mitford) from 1964 to 1972.

He made national headlines when he uncovered the remains of a Roman villa on a farm at Thurnham when still a teenager.

[1] He joined the Royal West Kent Regiment for the duration of the war, followed by the Control Commission for Germany.

He excavated widely across southern Britain and is best known as a leading authority on Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows.

[6] From 1976 to 1980 he was the President of the Cornwall Archaeology Society,[7] and was also a commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England for 10 years.